HomeNewsBriefMobile App Unlikely to Cure Guatemala's Extortion Ills
BRIEF

Mobile App Unlikely to Cure Guatemala's Extortion Ills

EXTORTION / 6 JUL 2015 BY MICHAEL LOHMULLER EN

With great fanfare, Guatemala has launched a cellular phone application intended to combat extortion. But is an app really an adequate tool to address this issue?

On June 3, officials from Guatemala’s Attorney General’s Office (known as the Ministerio Publico - MP) announced the creation of a new mobile app -- Denuncias MP Extorsiones -- that will alert users when an incoming call is from a number listed as belonging to extortionists, reported elPeriodico.

The application was introduced as part of a new anti-extortion campaign during the official presentation of the MP’s new anti-extortion unit. (See videos below)

Emma Flores, who is in charge of the new unit, said around 10,000 of Guatemala’s 22 million phone lines are known to be used by extortionists. These phone numbers have been complied into a database used by the new application.

The app -- which is available to download for free from Google Play for those with Android phones -- also gives users a means to report extortion cases directly to the MP. (See video below) Those without smart phones can also now report extortions via the MP’s website or by calling a hotline.

According to Flores, there have been over 17,000 reported cases of extortion in Guatemala since 2013, with data from Guatemala’s Interior Ministry estimating extortionists have made over $47 million from businesses and the transportation sector in 2015 alone.

InSight Crime Analysis

The introduction of this new technological solution is unlikely to be a silver bullet that eradicates Guatemala’s extortion problem. Past technological “fix-alls,” such as introducing new payment systems on public transport or jamming cell phone signals around the country’s prisons (where many extortion calls originate), have done next to nothing towards lowering extortion rates.  

SEE ALSO: Coverage of What Works

Additionally, criminals can easily steal phones, change SIM cards, or buy pre-paid phones and calling cards with new and unique numbers. These tactics render the MP's extortion database useless. Furthermore, extortionists can easily demand money from buses and small businesses in person, without the need of a cell phone.

There are no shortcuts to citizen security. The government would do better investing more money in the new anti-extortion unit. That unit will have 250 people and has received funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). But it will certainly need technological tools to help it with its investigations.  

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ECUADOR / 1 JUL 2021

Fishermen in Ecuador have taken matters into their own hands to combat pirate attacks that have long plagued its coastal…

COCA / 15 MAR 2023

Coca cultivation remains concentrated in the Andes, but escalating seizures suggest it could eventually be successful elsewhere.

BOLIVIA / 23 SEP 2022

As world leaders met for the United Nations General Assembly, Latin American presidents expressed various concerns about organized crime.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…